Year in Review: Acquired from the Marlins prior to the 2009 season for reliever Leo Nunez, Jacobs turned in a wretched campaign, posting a sub-.300 OBP for a second consecutive season. The Royals quickly got Jacobs' iron glove off the field, relegating him mostly to DH duty. His .305 wOBA ranked third-worst among DH's getting at least 400 plate appearances. Quite the hacker in 2008, Jacobs cut his outside-swing percentage from 34% to 26% in 2009. However, his .173 ISO was the lowest mark of his career. Long inept against left-handers, Jacobs "hit" .178/.252/.248 versus same-side pitching in 2009. He held his own against fastballs and hit change-ups quite well. But Jacobs posted one of the worst run values in the Majors versus sliders and was also well below-average against curveballs.

The Year Ahead: Jacobs is the perfect example of a fantasy owner's need to go beyond the surface stats. People taking a cursory glance at Jacobs' big-league track record heading into 2009 might have thought that he was a productive power bat. After all, he had shiny home run and RBI totals the previous season. But such an evaluation totally ignores the glaring weaknesses in Jacobs' game: namely, his inability to get on base and hit left-handed pitching. Jacobs owns a career .254/.313/.476 line. For reference, the average MLB first baseman batted .277/.362/.483 in 2009, while the average DH hit .264/.347/.447. When Jacobs' counting stats are put aside, what you're left with is a low-OBP platoon DH. If that sounds appealing to you, your name must be Dayton Moore. (David Golebiewski)